


this dream of white flowers (make it come true)

by EllaYuki



Category: CLAMP - Works, Pandora Hearts, Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle
Genre: (light horror tho), Alternate Universe - Shiritsu Horitsuba Gakuen, Android Fai, Angst, Clow Country, Crossover, Fay D. Fluorite/Xerxes Break (Past), Feels, Ginryuu - Freeform, Hope, Horror, Light Angst, Magic, Multi, Nihon Country, Piffle World, SPOILERS FOR PANDORA HEARTS, Sci-Fi, Shigatsu Tsuitachi Co. LTD, Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle Month 2020, alternate universe - figure skating
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-01
Updated: 2020-05-31
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 31
Words: 14,065
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23951305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EllaYuki/pseuds/EllaYuki
Summary: Series of ficlets for TRC Month 2020.Tags will be added accordingly with each new installment.
Relationships: Daidouji Tomoyo/Princess Sakura (Onesided), Fay D. Fluorite & Sakura | Tsubasa, Fay D. Fluorite & Sharon Rainsworth, Fay D. Fluorite/Kurogane, Kurogane & Tomoyo of Nihon Country, Sakura | Tsubasa/Syaoran | Li Tsubasa
Comments: 17
Kudos: 50





	1. Day 1: Fai

It feels strange, Fai thinks, sitting in his appointed rooms in Princess Sakura’s home palace, to have his magic back, all of it and untethered, simmering just under a layer of his skin. 

It feels strange to feel it pulse and writhe, just waiting for the slightest thought, the faintest idea of a spell from him, to unleash, to run free.

Fai wonders what would happen, if he were to lose control now like he did in Infinity, like he did in Celes. He'd been crippled then, at half of his already fettered power, and he'd caused utter chaos in his grief, in his rage. He wonders what will happen, then, if ever he'll be in such a situation again but with his powers at full capacity (and growing more and more every day, with each use).

He closes his eyes, whispers a breath of a spell into his cupped palms, and feels the air shift, feels it turn and twist and change at his soft demand. The small, five-petalled flower that greets him when he opens his eyes again is a testament, and a reminder, that he is still alive, and he is still whole, and he is not alone.

Fai has a precious, beloved little family that didn't let him crash and burn under his curses, and he is beyond grateful to them, and for them.

He has another chance at life, at a wonderful, happy life, and Fai will use every drop of this magic coursing through his every vein to make sure nothing and no one will ever disrupt that again


	2. Day 2: Kurogane

As the silk cloth falls away, Kurogane's entire being stills. 

Surely, it can't be...

But it is, the golden dragon of the hilt, the silver glint of the blade in the moonlight.

His family's sword.

_Father's sword._

He feels the difference the second he puts his hand on the hilt, fingers wrapping around the cold steel, tentatively at first, and then with a surer grip. Yes, his father’s sword, his legacy, his heirloom, which should have rested alongside his mother. 

As he gently props the flat of the blade against the back of his hand, and lifts it to better look at it, Kurogane feels the underlying power hidden within it and realizes, for the first time, that the copy he’d used for so many years, although good, would never have been able to reach the absolute level of perfection this Giryuu in his hands right now has. 

He breathes in, listens to Tomoyo's soft voice as she explains the why behind Ginryuu being in his possession right now instead of with the late Lady of Suwa, and thinks, _yes, yes, you will help me end this, you will help me change the tides._

_You will help me protect them._


	3. Day 3: Syaoran

He wishes...

Well, he wishes he could make a wish, but without the repercussions, without the world possibly ending as a result.

He wants to stop travelling.

He wants to stop, to be able to settle down. To finally rest his weary bones. He hasn’t lost the spark, every new world is still very much a wonder, even the less pleasant ones, but he’s so very tired of it all. (He’s sure Fai and Kurogane and Mokona are, too.)

He wants to finally go back to Sakura (his Tsubasa, his sweet princess, how long must he still make her wait?), wants to take her in his arms and tell her that this time, oh, this time, he’s staying. He wants to settle his head in her lap and feel her fingers card through his hair as the warm evening wind of Clow country plays with hers. 

He wishes he could wish for another day with his parents, too, in their home, training with his father while his mother watches with a smile on her face. Their caresses and their scoldings and their hugs. 

Well, there are a lot of things he wishes he could wish for.

But he knows the dangers. 

Knows, perhaps better than anyone, the risks of wishes.

Instead he waits, and he keeps on moving, on and on and on, wherever and for as long as this journey intends to go on.


	4. Day 4: Sakura

She wonders, sometimes, what life would be like without her powers.

Without dreams meaning more than a sleeping mind’s way to unwind, without the fear of knowing what will (not might, but will) come next for her country, for her loved ones. Without having to worry about the balancing act required to help those she must, and what the Universe considers too much interference on her part. 

She wonders what life as a normal girl would be like.

(Well, as much as she could be considered normal, what with her being a princess and all… Although… The idea of living in a small, simple house doesn’t sound so bad, especially if she’d be sharing it with… Yes... Yes, it would be nice.)

She could wish for it, Sakura thinks, for that normal life. Wish for days and days of hard work, and laughter and sweat and tears, and blissful, dreamless nights.

She knows the risks, though. Knows there would be too heavy a price to pay.

There are things in this world (and really, not just this one) that are so much more important than her fanciful dreams. Her second (precious, precious) family’s ongoing journey, her country’s future, the fates of so many, many worlds beyond her own.

No, Sakura will not wish her magic away.

(No matter how much she sometimes wishes she could.)


	5. Day 5: Mokona

One thing Mokona had never thought she’d ever experience, back when she'd first been made, or even when she’d first started journeying with Syoaran and the others, was this encompassing sense of longing.

She misses being with the other Mokona, the two of them having been inseparable for such a long time before her new little family came crashing into the front yard of Yuuko’s shop. (She misses Yuuko, too, so much, for all that they can communicate whenever they want.)

Sure, Mokona loves traveling with Sakura and with Syaoran and with Fai and with Kurogane (even when Kurogane is being a mean grump). She loves meeting new people, and seeing new places (some places more beautiful than even she could have ever imagined), and having many, many wonderful (if terrifying or heartbreaking on occasion) adventures. She loves it, so, so much.

But there are days when Mokona (deep down in her heart of hearts) wishes they could just… stop. Rest. Settle down. 

Wishes she could go back to spending her days with the other Mokona, just the two of them with no worries in the world.

Well, there will come a day, Mokona knows. 

Maybe not soon, because they still have a long way to go (they still need to find the other Sakura, the other Syaoran, make sure they come back, too, because she misses them, too, dearly, unbearably). But one day, all of them, not just Mokona, will be able to go home and rest their weary bones.

And Mokona is nothing if not patient (when she needs to be, that is).


	6. Day 6: Fave Minor Character  (Subaru)

He hadn’t meant to, is all he can tell himself as both an excuse and a comfort.

He hadn’t meant to let the waters of this strange new world take him, hadn’t meant to fall under its spells and fall asleep for… he’s not even sure how much time, how many years.

He hadn't meant to let Kamui wait and suffer, all alone. (Because he knows his twin, and he knows how deeply, how wildly he feels anything, from fear to loneliness to rage. Waiting, and feeling powerless to do anything _but_ wait, especially when neither of them knew when… when _he_ would catch up, probably drove Kamui up a wall with uselessness and dread.)

(Even in his dreams, as he slept next to that warm, gentle power source, Subaru wished he could comfort Kamui, tell him everything would be alright.)

Yes, he hadn’t meant to. Still, it happened.

At least, nothing horrible came of it. 

(Well, nothing horrible for himself and his twin, because what happened to that other family, what that poor girl lost, and the pain they all suffered, that was something he wouldn’t have wished on anyone, even in his most selfish moments.)

He takes his brother’s hand now, as they prepare to live Tokyo behind, and breathes in as deep as his lungs will let him.

He is alright, and Kamui is alright (though it will take some time for the clouds from his eyes to clear), and they are still together, and whole, and they will continue ever onward.

Subaru can only feel grateful, and hope this peace, what of it they have, lasts.


	7. Day 7: Horitsuba

He’s not jealous, not really.

Frustrated, maybe, a little, maybe a little envious, too, of the ease with which his brother can make grumpy Kuro-sama-sensei look…  _ soft _ . Fai has tried, for years, for as long as he’s known the P.E. teacher, but he’s never managed it, never once succeeded in making him look like that (in general, let alone at him).

He guesses it's understandable, Yuui has always been the calmer of the two, has always been the one to respect boundaries, to back off when he realized the teasing was too much.

Fai had never had his brother's tender nature.

_ Maybe that's why Kurorin-sensei likes him better. _

He's not bitter, because he loves his brother more than anything in existence, and Yuui,  _ oh _ , Yuui deserves the world and so much more. 

(Even if that includes Kurogane-sensei's gentle, fierce love.)

(He'd just hoped… Well, it doesn't really matter what he'd hoped. It's obvious it's never going to happen, never going to be his hands cradling that -loyal, wonderful, stubborn- heart close to his chest. He's come to terms with that.)

~

"What's wrong?" Director Ichihara asks with a shrewd look. 

Fai hates that look, feels transparent before it. "Nothing," he beams and exits via window.

~

"Fai-sensei, is something wrong? You seem… sad." And oh, gentle Sakura-chan who always seems to know when someone is feeling down. 

He pats her head. "I'm fine." He smiles at her, genuine, because he loves his students and never wants to worry them. "There's just something in the air."

~

"Fai," Yuui asks quietly over dinner in their small apartment. "If something was wrong, you'd tell me, right?"

Fai takes another bite of his food (his brother's cooking is flawless, delicious, as always) before he looks up to meet his twin's worried gaze. (Oh, how Fai loves his twin.)

"Of course! What kind of question is that?" But how can he tell him of his insecurities, his breaking heart? It would only hurt Yuui, and Fai will not be the one to make his brother sad. 

"It's just…" Yuui tries to explain, biting his lip. The food is getting colder by the second. Fai takes another bite. "You haven't seemed like yourself lately."

"Mmm..." How can he explain without explaining? "Been feeling a bit under the weather, I guess." He waves a dismissive hand at Yuui. "Don't worry, don't worry. It's nothing bad. It'll pass soon enough, I promise."

Yuui looks at him, for a long stretch of time, and Fai wonders what he sees. (He's terrified of knowing what his brother sees.) "If you're sure," he ends, on an exhale.

~

"The hell's wrong with you?" 

And  _ no _ . Nope, Fai can't do this, not after last night's… not-conversation with Yuui. 

So he turns, smile as big as he can make it, and drapes himself as obnoxiously as he can over Kuropu-sensei's shoulders. It usually does the trick, makes the man storm off in annoyance. That's exactly what Fai wants now.

"What's wrong, Kuro-sama-sensei? Did you miss me? I haven't seen you in a century-"

"You haven't seen me since we left school on Friday, and that's because you decided to fuck off and skip dinner with me and your brother," Kurogane cuts him off matter-of-factly. "You never skip dinner. What gives?"

And ugh, it's annoying, how well this man can read him, how well he's learned to see beyond Fai's masks, his smiles. "I had some important business to attend to, couldn't be helped."

Kurogane-sensei looks at him, unimpressed. Crosses his arms. "On a Saturday evening? When you knew I was coming over?" He snorts, disbelieving, and Fai hates how nothing seems to ever get past him. 

He shrugs, as nonchalantly as he can manage. "What can I say?" He turns around, crosses his hands behind his head. He doesn't have to keep smiling if Kurorin-sensei can't see his face. "At least Yuui kept you company. That couldn't have been bad." 

Maybe it's something in the tone of his voice, or the shape the words took as they left his mouth. 

But there is a beat of silence, long, complicated. For once, Fai doesn't know how to read it, how to fill it.

"You're an idiot," he hears from behind himself before he can say anything, and he clenches his teeth as hard as he can. He whirls around, teasing quip on the tip of his tongue.

It dies there.

Because oh.

_ Oh _ .

That's…

There's a look on Kuro-sama-sensei's face, unspeakably exasperated, unspeakably fond, and entirely, decidedly  _ soft _ , softer than anything Fai has ever seen. 

And it's focused entirely on him, on Fai.

"For someone who's supposed to be as smart as you are, you're a damn idiot," Kurogane-sensei says, raising his hand and threading his fingers in the hair at the back of Fai's hair.

And well,  _ perhaps he's right _ , Fai thinks, face hot, as he buries his face into Kurogane-sensei's neck. Perhaps he has been an idiot, after all.


	8. Day 8: OTP  (KuroFai)

After they get back from the ruins to what is the real Clow Country, to Sakura-chan’s real parents, the first thing they all do is sleep for days. It’s been a long, tiring journey, full of lasting wounds, and emotionally fraught. They all both need and deserve the rest, and no one can begrudge them that.

In his and Kurogane's shared room (because the man had taken Fai's wrist in his hand and hadn't let go when they were shown to sleeping quarters), Fai blinks awake on an exhale, after two days of dreamless slumber, and feels free for the first time in his entire life.

He turns his head, the pillow soft under his cheek, his back warm with midmorning sunlight, and his breath catches in his throat.

Kurogane's face, slack in his sleep, looks young and soft and carefree. 

Fai has never seen him like this, in all the long nights they've slept beside each other (or just in the same general space) in all those worlds they've been in. He's never seen Kurogane look so relaxed in his sleep. He's never seen the man with his guard down like this.

It makes the very last dredges of ice around his heart melt into inexistence, knowing that he has the privilege of seeing his Kuro-sama like this, that he has the ever-wary ninja's trust to such a degree.

(He doesn't know if he's earned it yet, but more than anything, he wants to be worthy of this trust.)

Slowly, ever so lightly, he reaches hesitant fingers to brush a few stray strands of dark hair out of Kurogane's closed eyes. He doesn't want to wake his bed partner up, but he can't resist the temptation.

This is the man who saved him, who looked at him and saw through all his lies and all his masks, who saw and understood his past, and decided he was still worth something, even when Fai himself would have deemed himself a lost cause.

This is the man who sacrificed blood and limb to make sure Fai wouldn't be lost to him, to their family, and Fai intends to pay that debt back tenfold. Intends to spend the rest of his life, if he's permitted, showing Kurogane how much he really appreciates everything the man's done for him.

"You're thinking too loudly," Kurogane startles Fai out of his contemplations. When he lifts his gaze back up, red eyes (beautiful, penetrating, gentle eyes) are watching him, still bleary with the fog of sleep. (Yet another look Fai has never seen on the man, because he usually tends to go from asleep to alert at the drop of a hat.)

"Did I wake you, Kuro-sama?" Fai asks, lifting his fingers from where they'd been idly resting on Kurogane's cheek. "I'm sorry." 

Kurogane huffs, and it sounds both fond and exasperated at the same time. "Don't be an idiot," he says, and captures Fai's retreating fingers in his hand, brings them back to his cheek. 

There is silence in the room for a few long seconds, the hubbub of daily palace life outside their door, their window, muted and faraway. Fai feels the sun's heat on his spine, on the back of his neck, and wonders if he's ever felt so warm as in this moment, with this man's steady gaze on him. 

For once, he doesn't feel like hiding behind a mask under such honest scrutiny.

What he wants, right now, is something else, something he never thought he might be allowed. 

He bites his lip.

But how can he ask for it? How can he be sure it will be allowed now? How can he-

"You're being an idiot again. Stop thinking so damn hard."

He gasps, eyes wide, as big, warm fingers card through his hair and cradle the back of his head. For a moment, they just look at each other, gazes open and honest, in the stillness of their room.

And then they breathe, almost as one, and Kurogane pulls Fai close, and then closer still, until there is no more space between them, not even for air. 

Fai closes his eyes as warm lips press against his, and for once, just once, stops thinking.


	9. Day 9:   Rare Pair   (Tomoyo/Sakura)

If she could, she’d dreamwalk into the other Tomoyo’s dreams and ask about them, whether they’re still travelling, whether they’ve achieved their goals. 

How grumpy Kurogane is.

_...how Sakura-chan is… _

Tomoyo sighs, looking out the window of her Piffle Tower office.

Ah, Sakura-chan. Sweet, lovely, Sakura-chan, with her warm smiles and her kind heart. Tomoyo never thought she’d miss anyone so much. Never thought she’d get attached to  anyone as much.

She shakes her head, bringing herself out of her melancholy daydreaming. 

She can’t get into contact with the other her, for some reason, though. It’s like the thread that was connecting them before has snapped, and a wall has taken its place. Tomoyo tries not to worry too much. After all, they’ve only met twice, and the princess is not the one Tomoyo has grown to care for. (Her own face isn’t the one she sees while she sleeps, but jade-green eyes and chestnut colored hair are for the ordinary dreams, for all that they leave her breathless and trembling and full of longing upon waking.)

Still…

If only she could find a way to open that door between worlds and step through.

If only she could find a way to see her…  _ her beloved  _ one more time, and help her on her path, wherever that path may lead her…

“Arara, Tomoyo…” she whispers to herself, hand on her cheek. She looks up at the clear blue summer sky. “Sakura-chan would be so sad, to see you so maudlin.”


	10. Day 10:  KuroFai

"So? Is it done?"

Fai opens his eyes (two of them, because he has them both again), and puts his hair brush down beside him on the bed. When he turns towards the doorway to their room, he sees Kurogane leaning against the door frame, casual as you please. But after so much time spent together, after everything they've been through together, Fai has learned to read the tense lines of his shoulders, the tight set of his mouth. The thousands of questions Kurogane will never ask, lurking just behind his red, red eyes.

Fai takes a breath, and wonders if this is what he thinks it is about. "Is what done, Kuro-sama?" he asks, just to be sure.

There's a brief flash of irritation passing lightning-quick through Kurogane's features, before the man steps away from the door frame and into the room, and closes the door firmly behind him. 

"You know what I mean," he says.

Fai plays with the edge of his shirt sleeve almost absent-mindedly. He thinks he does, yes. And,  _ still. _

"You could mean a lot of things, Kurorin. You have to be more specific than that if you want me to answer properly."

Kurogane huffs in annoyance, grinds his teeth. His mechanical fingers wrap around his flesh and bone wrist, over the healing scars there, only for a second. It looks more like an unconscious move, than anything.  _ Ah, so it is _ . 

"The blood," Kurogane says at last, and it feels like an open wound. "The vampire bond. The witch said-"

"The witch said, yes," Fai interrupts, because it feels like this is important to Kurogane. It would be, wouldn't it? That first, terrifying sacrifice. Tying his life like that to someone else's, agreeing to be their food for the rest of his life. Fai doesn't know if he, himself, would ever have had the strength to do such a thing.

(That's a lie. If the roles were reversed, he knows now that he would have done the same. Even with his mission, and all his curses, and his death wish at the time, he would have.)

"So?" Kurogane asks again. He walks to the desk by the bed, pulls out the chair. Lets himself sink heavily in it. "She said that the whole thing would be undone if you got your eye back. Has it?"

Fai looks down at his lap, at his hands playing with the fabrics covering his legs, and then he closes his eyes.

He wishes he could tell Kurogane that it has. 

He can't.

"It seems,” he starts, a little hesitant. Things have changed between them, for the better, in ways he’d never dreamed he’d have a chance of ever experiencing. But they’ve never talked about what this vampire bond would mean in the long run.  _ Well, _ he guesses, _ we’re about to have this conversation now _ . “It seems she might have miscalculated.”

There’s a beat of silence. 

And then, “Miscalculated,” said flatly. “How.”

Fai sighs. Then, he raises his head, straightens his shoulder. 

When he meets Kurogane’s gaze, the ninja’s eyes widen. “What the hell?” leaves Kurogane’s stunned lips to accompany the growing frown between his brows. Fai just blinks blue and gold eyes at him. 

“I think it’s because I didn’t have any magic left in me when I got my eye back. It must have changed what was supposed to happen.” 

“Changed,” Kurogane says, unimpressed, unconvinced. “Just like that.” Like he’s about to take his sword and run someone through. “And both your eyes were blue until a while ago.”

Fai shrugs. “It was probably from the overflow of power. Syoaran-kun,” and oh, how it still hurts to mention his first son. “Used it so much, it grew to unbelievable degrees. There was an overflow when I took it in. It must have finally ebbed, settled, for the gold to be visible again.” At least, that’s what he assumes has happened. He wishes he could consult Yuuko-san about it. Speaking of which, “And as for Yuuko-san, maybe she didn’t take into account that I’d get drained of all of it at some point.” Kurogane snorts at that. “Nothing is set in stone, Kuro-sama,” Fai tells him, amused. “Our choices change the course of things, you should know that by now.”

Kurogane leans back against the desk, crosses his arms in front of his chest. He doesn’t look furious anymore, but he doesn’t look happy either. Fai swallows past the lump in his throat.

“You should drink, then,” Kurogane says. 

He sounds like he’s expecting a fight, and Fai almost wants to laugh. “I don’t need to, Kuro-sama,” he answers instead. And, when Kurogane looks like he’s about to burst a vein, he adds, “Some things did change.”

At Kurogane’s confused frown, Fai raises from the bed and walks to the desk. Leans against it, besides the ninja, and looks up at the ceiling. “Ah, how should I put this,” he starts. “The bond is still there. I can still… I still thirst for your blood. Crave it. But,” he pauses, wets his lips. “I don’t need it as sustenance anymore. I’ve been awake for two days now, had my magic for a few more days before that. I’m not hungry for it. I want it, yes, but I don’t need it. And you’ve already seen me eating normal food again, Kuropuu, I couldn’t do that before.”

What he doesn’t say is that he doesn’t know how this affects Kurogane’s end of the deal. 

The witch had said his lifespan would lengthen to match Fai’s, but since Fai could live without him now (well, in this sense, because he doesn’t think he would be able to handle it emotionally if the man died), he has to wonder if maybe that wouldn’t be the case anymore. 

He doesn’t want to think about the long years ahead of him, if he has to watch Kurogane grow old and die while he still has decades, maybe centuries left to live.

“So what now?” Kurogane asks, looking up at him. Fai can’t help carding his fingers through his dark hair.

“Now,” he answers, heart in his throat. “Now we carry on with our lives, see where we end up, I guess.”

“The kid wants to continue traveling,” Kurogane tells him, and yes, Fai had figured he would. He’s been waiting for Syaoran-kun to tell them.

He nods. “I’ll go with him, if he’ll have me.”  _ I’m not losing another child,  _ he doesn’t say.

Kurogane rolls his eyes, and stands up.  _ “We’ll  _ go, you idiot.”

Fai laughs at that. “Yes, yes, Kuro-papa.  _ We _ will.” Because, of course.

“And after that,” Kurogane continues, and Fai blinks at him when he feels metal fingers twist in the locks of his hair by his shoulder. 

“After that…? Kuro-sama?”

“After that, we go back to Nihon. Together. If you want.”

And, well, how can Fai say no to that, when his heart feels like it might just beat right out of his chest?

“Mn,” he says, touching his forehead against Kurogane’s, smile wide and true on his lips. “After that, we go home.”


	11. Day 11:  SyaoSaku

“I wish,” she starts, on a quiet breath. Then, she stops, bites her tongue. Sighs. “Well, there are a lot of things I wish I could wish for.”

Her head is resting lightly under Syaoran’s chin, eyes trained on the horizon. The setting sun casts a myriad of rosy shades on the still scorching desert sand. It’s not a sight Sakura thinks she’ll ever get tired of.

Syaoran hums, just as quietly as she had spoken. “But wishes are dangerous things,” he continues for her, something like longing in his voice, because if there’s anyone who knows what she means, it’s him. “Even for us.  _ Especially _ for us.”

“Yes,” she agrees, and looks up, trying to find the evening’s first star.

“Would that I could go with you,” she whispers, and makes sure to keep it as light as possible, as far away from her magic’s reach as she is capable of. 

“Would that I could stay with you,” Syaoran murmurs back, as he pulls her tighter into his arms. He presses the briefest of kisses to the top of her head. Sakura thinks she might just cry.

“One day,” is the only thing she can really hope for, a moment, in the future, when they can be together without impending departure clouding their happiness.

“One day,” he promises, fire in his eyes, and lightning in his veins. He looks down at her, and when she meets his gaze, it’s like all of her fears and doubts have vanished. 

Syaoran runs the back of a finger lightly across her cheek, before cupping the side of her neck and pulling her in for a light kiss.

Yes, they will be alright.

There are no maybes between them, only certainties, only quiet “I love yous” and  _ one day soon, soon, please, soon. _


	12. Day 12:  AU

The last parallel combo spins are flawlessly executed, and with the final pose (both on their knees, facing each other, hands almost-but-not-quite touching in between them, distraught looks on their faces), Sakura and Syaoran finish their free skate, chests heaving, hearts bursting.

They hug, brief and soft, before standing up, and then they turn to bow, to the judges, to their audience, their fans. The applause is deafening in the arena, the cheers and whistles and thrown plushes and flowers something out of any skater’s dream. 

Sakura picks up a white plush rabbit, and then a stuffed lion, too, which she gives to Syaoran. He takes it with a smile and flushed cheeks. Both their hearts are beating wildly. Sakura can swear she feels hers in her throat. This has been the performance of a lifetime, the music perfect, the steps seamless, and the entire thing a breathless dance from start to finish.

When they step off the ice, with a last bow towards the stands, they’re both swiftly enveloped in a crushing hug courtesy of Fai, their coach/choreographer, and then, after he finally lets them breathe, Kurogane, their coach/personal trainer, pats them on their heads with a gruff “Well done”.

The wait for the results feels endless, eternal.

“You guys are winning,” Fai tells them from where he’s sitting to Sakura’s left. He gives her another half-hug, kisses the side of her head, all fatherlike. “There’s no doubt about it.”

"Mn," Kurogane agrees, quiet, stoic. "No wobbly spins, no awkward landings, the synchronization wasn't off even by an inch." Which, in Kurogane-speak, means he's proud of their performance today and agrees on their chances to win.

And, well, neither of the men are wrong.

Not even half a minute later, the results are finally in, and by a five point margin, Syaoran and Sakura earn their first World Championship at only sixteen.


	13. Day 13:  Characters with Disabilities

On good days, it only aches.

Usually, her leg feels heavy, dead, for all that she can still feel it, like lead weights are dragging it down harshly, and Sakura has to clench her teeth together tightly against the whimpers that want to leave her throat with every movement.

Every step is fire and ice and lightning strikes, and eternity stretching beyond the limits of what is humanly bearable. 

Still she bears it, limps her way bravely wherever she has to go. She grinds her teeth, breathes through the excruciating pain day in, day out, and tells herself she’s neither the first nor the last to lose full mobility of a limb _(and there are worse things to lose,_ she thinks, and tries not to let the image of soulless eyes and missing eyes overwhelm her). 

It’s a price she doesn’t regret paying. Not when the alternatives were beyond anything she could ever hope to bear, emotionally. She’s lost one beloved person already. Losing anyone else is not, and never will be, an option. Not if she has anything to say about it.

Not when she can actively _do_ something about it.

She’s lost the use of her leg, but she still has most of her family, fractured and broken as it currently is.

(For as long as she’s allowed, at least, given what she now knows of their future.) 


	14. Day 14:  Vintage

“Those polka dots look absolutely lovely on you, my dear!” Fai gushes over his adorable ward. “And! They go so well with the cut of your blouse and that cute ribbon in your hair!” Sakura looks like her face has gone up a half dozen degrees, which, again, adorable! “Today’s photos will look so good!”

Sakura bites her lip. “Mn, I guess,” she says, quiet, fiddling with a ruffle at her wrist, then patting down her skirt. “Too bad they will only be in black and white,” she says, regret and a bit of wistfulness coloring her tone. “I wish photographs could be in color…”

Fai touches a finger to his chin, tilting his head to one side. After a moment of thoughtful silence, he shrugs. “You’re right. The full effect is going to be lost.” He sighs when he sees her shoulders droop. “And we went through all this trouble to make sure everything coordinates properly, too… Oh well…” Then, because that is his usual style, he brightens up. “Think about it this way, though,” he says with a grin just this side of sly. “Like this, all this cuteness will be for Syaoran’s eyes only!”

Sakura’s blush intensifies (and oh, how Fai wishes he could take colorful photographs right now, so he could immortalize her impersonation of a tomato). “It’s not like he’s the only one seeing me,” she mumbles, eyes on the ground. 

Fai waves a dismissive hand. “The photographer and I don’t really count. We don’t. Your beau is the only one that matters right now.”

Sakura bites her lip (careful not to ruin her pretty pink lipstick), and nods, sweet and shy. “I guess…”

“The photographs are just going to be a memento, Sakura,” Fai says, raising a hand and gently patting some stray strands of her hair into place. “Even if they are just black and white. It is the memories you make, that will remain colorful, vividly so, for the rest of your life.”

Sakura looks up at him, seeming surprised at first, then with something like quiet determination glistening in her green eyes. She says, “You’re right,” and steps forward, and out the door, her step light.


	15. Day 15: Horror

There’s almost a too serene kind of silence all up and down the old beaten path that cuts a winding road from the center of the village to their shabby little cemetery. It’s aching, the quiet, and the air is earily still, and Syaoran can feel all the hairs on his arms and the back of his neck stand up. _ Something’s not right. _

He shares the sentiment with the others, because surely, they must feel it, too, and he gets wary nods and grim faces in answer. Not even Fai-san is smiling. Or Mokona. There’s just something in the air, heavy on the lungs, dragging at their limbs. 

For once, Syaoran wants to turn around and go back the way they came. 

They keep moving forward instead. There have been rumors of weird noises coming from the old cemetery, like nails scratching on wood, like someone screaming, voice hoarse, words harsh. 

It might be a feather, they’d all agreed. (“It might be something entirely unrelated,” Kurogane had warned. “But whatever, I guess. Let’s check it out.”) 

But the closer they get, the worse the feeling of utter wrongness grows. (“Wh-what if there are m-monsters?” Mokona asks, from where she’s buried deep into the safety of Kurogane-san’s cloak. “Don’t worry, Moko-chan,” Sakura tells her, gentle as a summer breeze. “We’ll protect you!”)

They’re just outside the gates, twilight giving way to early evening darkness, when they hear it. A dreadful gurgling, like someone choking on their own blood, and the harsh drag of something on the dirt. There’s no screaming, thankfully, but somehow, that makes the whole thing even worse.

But when they step into the cemetery, there’s nothing there but graves and grass and old trees. Nothing on the path, nothing in between the headstones. The place seems empty, devoid of life. As it  _ should  _ be.

But they can still hear the gurgling and the dragging sounds.

And then, faint, barely above a whisper, Sakura says, “You poor thing, what happened to you?”

A violent shiver crawls up Syaoran’s spine.

Because something  _ is  _ there. 

And only Sakura can see it.


	16. Day 16:  Angst

He runs. 

As fast and as far as his legs, short and weak as they are, can carry him.

("Oi.")

He runs, jumping over falling trees and broken pillars, stumbling, barely managing to keep himself upright.

("Mage.")

His lungs burn, his muscles scream, and yet, still he runs and he runs. Up stairs, and down hallways, and through archways, and beneath branches. 

("Oi!")

He wades through a river, terrified of having to slow down even for just a moment. When he's on the other side, he starts up again, legs heavy like lead.

("Fai!")

He has to run. 

He has to get there in time.

He has to escape.

He has to…

Dammit, why can't he run faster?!

("Dammit. Fai!")

It's started snowing, a blizzard he would have once gone through like a hot knife through butter, but now somehow makes him stumble, makes it hard to see, hard to even breathe. The howling of the wind is the only thing he can hear, as it envelops him and echoes and echoes and echoes.

He won't make it in time.

("Come on, mage!")

He won't escape in time.

("Fai!")

He won't be able to save them in time.

("Fai!")

He can't- 

They’ll all di-

He won't- 

He-

_"Yuui!"_

He gasps, warm spring air filling his lungs to the brim, and he bolts up, eyes wide.

Each inhale, each exhale, is rough, painful, but he forces them until he can focus on his surroundings.

He's in his bedroom, in Nihon. And next to him…

"Kuro-sama?" he croaks, reaching for his husband.

"I'm here," Kurogane says, sounding both worried and exasperated. "You were having a nightmare, wouldn't wake up."

A nightmare. That's all it was. A nightmare. Fai breathes, closing his eyes for a moment.

"Thanks for waking me up, Kuro-sama," he says eventually, when his heart finally settles down. He meets Kurogane's gaze in the moonlight. (Forces away the image of him torn and bloody and lifeless.)

(It works.) 

(For now.)


	17. Day 17:  Fluff

“Is there any tradition, any custom, that you’d like to include?”

The question takes Fai a bit off guard. He looks over his shoulder at Sakura-chan, head tilted in a question. 

Sakura-chan’s cheeks turn slightly pink. (It’s adorable.) “I mean,” she starts, distractedly pushing a lock of hair behind her ear. “For the wedding.” She picks up a couple of hair pins, one jade, one silver, and raises them to his hair one after the other, a thoughtful look on her face. “From... Valeria. Or from Celes. Kurogane-san mentioned some customs from Nihon, so I was wondering…”

_ Ah, so that’s what this is about. _ Fai smiles, unspeakably fond. 

“Hmm…” He turns his head back forward, lets her twist strands of his hair together and pin them in whatever fashion she deems best. “I don’t know about Valeria,” he says, because honestly, he doesn’t know much about his birth country in general. He’d been too young to learn all that much when they’d tossed him and his brother in the valley. 

“But in Celes… well, the only thing I remember was something about…” What was it, again? He’s only ever been to a couple of weddings in Celes. “The families of both the parties involved, the parents usually, would… do these little braids in their hair, from temples to the back of the head. The married couple would undo each other’s at the end of the celebrations. Cut a couple of locks, and braid them together.” 

“That sounds lovely,” Sakura-chan sighs, a smile clear in her voice. “We could do that, if you want. It’s not that hard to incorporate, alongside Kurogane-san’s customs, and those of Clow Country.”

Fai hums, warmth blooming in his chest. It sounds nice, yes. For all that it also aches. “We could, yes,” he agrees. And, “Not that Kurorin’s hair is long enough to braid. But if anyone could manage it, it would be Sakura-chan.”

“Princess Tomoyo will be here for the wedding,” she reminds him, though. And yes, she will be, won’t she, because she’s the closest thing Kuro-sama has to a family, outside of those currently in Clow. “She will be the one to tend to Kurogane-san’s side of things. I will be doing Fai-san’s hair. Syaoran will help me.”

And well, what can Fai say to that? What can he honestly say, when his heart feels ready to burst with affection for this girl he’s come to see as his own (along with the other one, and the two identical boys, and the powerful, sentient being that is both translator and traveling companion)?

He turns around, careful not to ruin her work on his hair, and pulls her in for a tight hug. “Thank you, Sakura-chan.” He kisses the top of her head, buries his face into her soft hair.

He might have lost his brother, and the man who was a father to him for most of his life, but he has gained a family who loves him despite all his flaws. A family for whom he would pluck all the stars in the sky, for how much he adores them. 

Sakura-chan buries herself deeper into his arms with a nod. She says, “Your wedding will be the most beautiful one ever, Fai-san, you just wait.” And the thing is? 

Fai has no doubt it will be. 


	18. Day 18:  High Seas

Salt water surrounds him, engulfs him, pushing him down, down, down into the darkness, into death’s awaiting embrace.

He’d always thought he’d die at sea, hoped for it, like any pirate does, but now, as he sinks, he wishes he’d have one more breath of air, one last look at the stars. He wishes the kid isn’t meeting the same fate, too, because unlike Kurogane, the boy still has a long life in front of him, just waiting for him to stop playing pirate.

_ Damn all the rest, let the kid survive,  _ Kurogane prays.

Maybe Syaoran had managed to get to a lifeboat, or grab onto something that still floats, before the ship went down. Kurogane hopes, because he, himself, hasn’t been so lucky. And the gaping wound in his side isn’t helping any, either, damn his rotten luck.

The surface is getting further and further away, and the edges of his vision get darker and darker. His lungs burn, just about ready to burst with the need to just  _ breathe _ .

His entire body aches, and well, he thinks, maybe he should just close his eyes, let the void take him.

And so he does, and death comes to him, with warm arms and an insistent kiss.

~*~

There is… something. 

A song maybe, but that can’t be right.

There's nothing so sweet, so soothing down in the Locker. 

~*~

There’s a gentle, if firm pressure on his chest, and warm breath against his face.

Waves lapping at his shins.

Kurogane comes to with an inhale surprisingly devoid of water, and it’s disorienting to say the least. He’d expected never-ending darkness. He’d expected to never open his eyes again. 

But he does, and his breath hitches in his throat.

Mere inches from his face, framed by the rosy light of sunrise, is the most bewitching creature he’s ever laid eyes upon. Its golden hair looks aflame in the rising sun, and its eyes are the same blue as that of the open seas. There are silver scales dusting its cheekbones to its ears, and down the sides of its neck to its collarbone. Kurogane can feel something solid and scaly laying heavily across his ankle.

“You saved my life,” Kurogane manages to croak, and the creature jerks back slightly, eyes wide. It-  _ He, _ from the looks of him, looks surprised, though not wary. 

_ Doesn't look like the murderous beasts merfolk are usually known to be, either, _ Kurogane thinks to himself. 

He tries sitting up, wincing the entire time, and almost collapses back down, before strong, if slim arms catch him (warm, they're so warm, how are they so warm), and prop him up.

And Kurogane gets a proper look at his saviour. 

Wiry torso to go with the slim arms, and a spattering of glistening silver-blue scales that start just under his ribs and go down to just under its navel, where they meet the start of a magnificent-looking tail. 

There's transparent webbings in between restless fingers, and small corals in golden hair.

The siren's head tilts to the side, ever so slightly. (Curiosity, perhaps.) Kurogane wants to put some space between them, have some room to breathe, because it's still a little difficult to (and surely, surely it's only because of his near drowning), and at the same time, he wants to never be parted from this… this man, this  _ being _ , ever again.

(That damn witch, Tomoyo, would laugh herself sick if she'd ever hear about this.

Which she  _ won't _ .

_ Ever.) _

He clears his throat. "Thank you," he says, and then wonders if the siren can even understand him. 

Maybe he does, because he lays a gentle hand against Kurogane's side (his healed, scarred over side, how long has he been unconscious?), and rests his forehead against Kurogane's shoulder for a moment. 

Then, before Kurogane can say anything more (like ask for a name, or for another song, if the siren would bestow it), the siren pulls back, presses a soft, fleeting kiss to the corner of Kurogane's mouth, and disappears in the water with a splash.

Kurogane's been a pirate for many a year, but never in all that time, has he laid eyes on a more precious a treasure.


	19. Day 19: Video Games

“Sakura-chan, behind you!” 

Sakura moves, kicks her leg out. Drops the enemy trying to sneak up behind her. “Atta girl,” she hears, from Kurogane-san this time. The smile on her face widens. She moves to dropkick another foe before anyone can say anything more.

She can hear Syaoran-kun grunt from next to her, but doesn’t pay attention (she knows he’ll be just fine), focusing instead on her surroundings, sizing up the two troll-like figures approaching from the copse of trees a dozen or so feet away. 

They seem slow, their hyde not so thick, so maybe…

Sakura picks up her bow, notches a couple of arrows, breathes like Fai-san taught her. (“Nice and easy, deep inhale, don’t rush. Go for the perfect spot, if you can.”) The arrows strike true, hard and fast, in vulnerable joints. The trolls sink to the ground like boulders in water.

Satisfaction swells in her chest, a fierce thing.

It’s only a game, yes, the scenery-changing goggles digging into the bridge of her nose an almost comfortable weight, but it still leaves her breathlessly giddy, each oncoming foe that she defeats, each hit that lands true.

She’s never been one for violence, true, but she has to admit, this is exhilarating.

“You’re getting distracted,” she hears Kurogane-san mutter, and she has a moment to wonder who he’s referring to before a blade comes swooshing right past her ear. It misses by less than an inch.

Okay so maybe she has been getting a little bit side-tracked by the thrill of it.

She takes a breath, whirls around, drawing her dagger up to parry the next blow. (“Use their weight against them,” Kurogane-san had instructed, as gently firm with her as always.)

The next attack won’t catch her by surprise again. 


	20. Day 20: Fairytale

The tale was that a fearsome dragon guarding a cave far up in the mountains, where a lovely, young princess sleeps the sleep of a thousand years. No one, no king nor prince nor knight nor peasant, has ever been able to lay eyes on the princess, driven away by the beast or eaten for their attempts.

"Well," Kurogane sighs, rubbing at his forehead, a headache slowly creeping in. "The tale was obviously a load of bullshit."

Which, fair enough.

He looks at the man lounging on the spread of pillows, taking bites from a juicy, green apple. 

The man, Fai, as he had introduced himself, is indeed of royal blood, a Valerian prince by birthright and raised at the court of Celes, and sure, he's lovely to look at, though Kurogane will not admit to it even on pain of death. 

But that's about all that can be applied to him from the descriptions in every tale and rumour.

There's nothing even vaguely maidenly about him (save for the curve of his mouth and the gold of his hair), and he's not sleeping the cursed sleep of legends. He's not guarded by a large, vicious dragon either.

"I turn into one," he'd told Kurogane mere moments ago, waving a dismissive hand. "Got cursed to transform at the merest hint that someone might want to save me. Had to flee my home because my king and my friends kept wanting exactly that. It… wasn’t pretty.”

There was a haunted look behind the jovial smiles, still is now, and Kurogane has to wander at the scene those words conjure. A full grown dragon appearing in the castle, clear out of nowhere, and on many an occasion. There would have been many who’d have wanted to try their hand at catching it, or worse.

Of course Fai had had to flee to save his own life.

There are still hundreds of things Kurogane wants to say, but first thing’s first, “You must have really pissed someone off.” And then, seeing Fai’s hands still for a brief, aching second, “So how the hell can anyone break such a curse?” Because if he knows everything there is to know about it…

But no, no. He shakes his head.  _ Intent _ , the curse’s trigger is  _ intent _ . He needs to focus, maybe find a way around it… 

Fai looks at him for a second from under half-lowered lashes, then cuts his gaze to some point to Kurogane’s left. He shrugs, trying, and failing, to appear nonchalant. “How do curses get broken in general?” Which is frustratingly vague, but an answer nonetheless.

Because Kurogane gets it. How could he not, when he was raised among storytellers? 

Still, he rolls his eyes, because of  _ fucking  _ course it’s  _ this _ . “True love’s kiss,” he scoffs.

Fai shrugs again, something like a confirmation in the tilt of his head, and Kurogane wants to take him by the shoulders and shake him. He doesn’t, though, and for a while, they sit in silence while Fai finishes his apple.

When he’s done, Kurogane stands up, dusts himself off. “You can come with me,” he offers, though he won’t take no for an answer.

Fai looks up at him, eyes wide and unguarded for a split second. “I can’t  _ leave- _ ” he starts, but Kurogane cuts him off.

“I’m not gonna try and save you, don’t worry your head off. I do need a traveling companion, though. At the very least, you seem competent enough.”

_ And love, true or otherwise, can be found along the way. _

Fai keeps looking at him, long and steady now, and after what feels like a lifetime, he takes a deep breath, and nods. “Alright. I’ll go with you,” he says, barely above a whisper. 

Kurogane can tell that there’s a long, complicated journey in front of them, but looking at those big, shiny blue eyes (brimming as they are with want and hope), he doesn’t think he’ll ever come to regret his choice, whatever comes.


	21. Day 21:  Free Day

"And will you be bringing any of your companions with you? When you finally return home, I mean." 

The question sounds so innocent, so natural, that, if it had been asked by anyone else, or if it had been addressed to anyone else, it wouldn't have raised any eyebrows.

As it is, Kurogane does raise his eyebrow at his princess, because he can hear at least a dozen other things hidden behind and under and throughout that simple question. Tomoyo just smiles pleasantly at him, as if she doesn't know he's caught on to every single one of those extra layers. As if there aren't any extra layers at all, really.

"I might," is all Kurogane will say, because he's not telling the brat a damn thing that will end in her arranging the most ridiculously elaborate wedding Nihon has ever seen. She's his sworn master, not his mother, so he won't have her embarrass him (even more than she usually does) in front of the mage first thing on the day they get back to Nihon to settle down.

"Is that so," Tomoyo hums, an innocent yet calculating look on her face. Kurogane grits his teeth.

Unfortunately for him, he might just get a ridiculously elaborate wedding no matter what he does, knowing Tomoyo (and the Empress and Souma as well, for that matter).

He’ll just have to bear it. 

(Especially since he’s  _ absolutely  _ certain that the idiot mage will  _ absolutely  _ adore it all.)


	22. Day 22: Natural Wonders

They’ve seen their share of wonders in their travels, from living sphinxes to floating islands in pink skies to entire cities at the bottom of lakes, but there’s just...  _ something  _ about this place, with its multiple waterfalls and countless, constantly full rainbows, that is absolutely breathtaking. 

"I wish there was a way we could immortalize this," Sakura hums, breathless at the sheer beauty of it all. "Capture all the rainbows on one canvas, capture the feeling of this place and carry it with us when we leave."

She expects her companions, especially stoic Kurogane-san, to maybe roll their eyes but indulgently nod along anyway. But when she turns to them, there are equal looks of awe on each of their faces.

So maybe she's not the only one who can be so taken by the simple beauty of the natural wonder in front of them.

"Mokona can ask the other Mokona for a camera! We can take photos of it!" Moko-chan says suddenly, leaping onto Sakura's shoulder from where she'd landed on Fai-san's head. "Mokona is sure the other Mokona, and Yuuko and Watanuki, too, will also appreciate a view like this one!"

This time, Kurogane-san does scoff. "That witch would charge us an arm and a leg for a camera."

Moko-chan puffs up, a tiny, outraged (adorable) frown on her face. "She will not! Showing them a place like this one should be enough."

Sakura giggles, unable to help herself. She glances back towards the waterfalls, the crystalline waters sparkling in the sun like diamonds, the colourful rainbows an absolute dream to look at. Maybe Moko-chan is right. Maybe it's enough.

She pats Moko-chan's head gently. "Call Miss Witch, Moko-chan. This is too beautiful to pass up, and to not have something to remember it by."

She looks at Kurogane-san, supplicant. He lets out an exasperated breath, but shrugs and goes to sit against the nearest tree. "Do whatever you want."

Fai-san nods, an fondly amused smile on his face. Syaoran-kun raises a hand to brush a few strands of hair out of Sakura's face. "It's a wonderful idea," he says. 

Sakura beams at them, incandescently happy, and then turns back to face the falls. 

"Make the call, Moko-chan."


	23. Day 23: Shigatsu Tsuitachi CO., LTD

"It could be a wish granting shop," Sakura suggests, looking at her cousin.

Tsubasa shakes her head gently. "One already exists," she says. "Right, Watanuki-kun?"

Watanuki nods. "Yes, yes. Ours should be different. Special."

"Shigatsu Tsuitachi could be a place where people come when they have…  _ problems... _ that need taking care of." Everyone turns to Seishirou, different levels of  _ absolutely horrified at the implications  _ on their faces.

"No," they all tell him as one, and that's the end of that. He shrugs his shoulders. 

They turn back to the document drafts and half-drawn plans in front of them, ignoring him. Syaoran hums, a finger on his chin. "A detective agency?"

Tsubasa shakes her head again. "At least one of us would need to have a license. It would take a while to make that happen."

Sakura sighs again.

Then, there's a passing thought.

"We could… help people. Seishirou-san's idea, or, well, the basis of it, isn't bad." When everyone turns to her with confused looks, Sakura smiles. "Shigatsu Tsuitachi Co., LTD. could be a place where people come when they need help with something they can't handle themselves.” She pushes a lock of hair behind her ear. “The wish shop more often helps with the supernatural side of life. We could help with the everyday things."

Tsubasa and Syaoran and Watanuki all nod, smiles blooming on their faces, taken in by the idea. Even Seishirou looks mildly interested (and Sakura and the others will have to be careful not to let him spin his less than savoury ideas into the mix with theirs).

“But what if we end up getting too many requests?” Syaoran asks, his smile dimming ever so slightly at the idea. 

There’s a moment of contemplative silence. Then, “We could recruit,” Watanuki pipes up, adjusting his glasses just so. “If we need more help, we could always put out a recruitment ad.”

Tsubasa is already sketching something on her tablet. “Maybe we could…” 

“We can’t recruit just  _ anybody _ ,” Seishirou says, the only reasonable thing that has come out of his mouth the entire day. And he’s right, as much as the others hate to admit it.

“But by what criteria should we select who we hire?” Sakura asks her companions.

For a while, no one knows how to answer. And then, Syaoran gets an idea. 

“We’re all born on April First, right? And the company will be named after the day, too, so… why not have  _ all  _ the others we recruit share the same birth date as the rest of us?”

“And exactly how many people do you think we’ll find to fit this one criteria? In  _ this  _ city?” Saishirou asks, a little derisive. 

Syaoran looks at him, eyebrow raised. “Well, there’s five here and we weren’t even trying. I think we can find a few more if need comes to shove.”

The others agree. It’s an idea, at least. It’s worth a try.

“So,” Tsubasa says, as she finishes her sketch of a dog with a calendar for a head. “I guess this means we can start getting things in order now, right?”

They all nod.

Shigatsu Tsuitachi Co., LTD will be ready to open soon.


	24. Day 24: Sci-Fi

“I thought robots don’t have feelings,” Kurogane says, rubbing at his furrowed brow. This entire day has been designed to give him a huge headache.

Fai laughs, rueful. Or well, it sounds rueful, but can robots actually  _ feel  _ rueful? “I’m an android, Kuro-sama,” he says, looking down at his hands. There’s something incredibly human about the way his fingers keep fidgeting in his lap. “I was designed to be as human as possible. That includes having feelings. As inconvenient as they might be.”

There’s something sharp, vicious, pulsing in Kurogane’s chest.  _ “Inconvenient,” _ he snorts. 

He steps away from the bench where Fai is sitting down, head bent, the gaping hole where his blue  _ (inhumanly blue,  _ hasn’t Kurogane always thought that?),  _ so very blue  _ eye used to be, now a mess of torn cables and artificial nerve endings.

He takes a deep breath. Too many things have happened in the past day. Too many. He can’t let himself be distracted by… by  _ inconvenient  _ feelings. He clears his throat. “The kid, too? He’s also an android? Or is he something else?”

Fai sighs behind him.  _ (Stop sounding so damn human, dammit.) _ “Yes, he is an android. Made by the mad scientist Fei Wang Reed. I…” There’s a pause, a hitched breath, and Kurogane thinks he knows what’s coming before it leaves Fai’s lips. “I used to work for him, too. There was something I wanted that I thought he could help me with. I was… _ so wrong.”  _

Kurogane pinches the bridge of his nose again. Will the shit news cease? “Used to?” he asks, for clarification. 

“Yes,” Fai answers, and there’s not a smidgeon of falsehood in his tone. For all the revelations in the past hours, Kurogane thinks he can at least tell that much.  _ (‘But maybe you can’t, not really,’ _ something whispers in the back of his mind. ‘ _ Maybe androids can lie more easily than humans do. You have no way of knowing.’  _ Kurogane grits his teeth and ignores that voice. Chooses to trust his gut. To trust Fai.)

“Alright.” 

He takes a breath. Steps up to the working table full of tools and knick-knacks. Picks up insulators and pliers and a screwdriver. A couple of clean rags and a bottle of oil. He knows how to repair space ships, knows how to fix low atmosphere hover crafts. Can even do decent work on any building appliance that breaks down.

He’s never handled robots before.

He’s never handled living, near-human androids.

(Where the hell should he even start, when he needs to take care of this one android, this one _ person  _ he’s fallen for, who needs fixing now that he’s hurt?)

“Kurogane...” Fai whispers, remaining blue eye wide, fingers trembling slightly. Kurogane wants to shake him. For all that he’s always hated the nicknames, he hates this more, now. 

“Shut up,” he tells Fai as he steps back in front of him, laying his cargo down on the bench. “Don’t call me that.”

Fai’s eye widens further. “Eh? But-” he tries, but Kurogane has no patience for any of it. Not today.

“I said shut up.” He pulls gloves on, surgical ones, better for more delicate work, and hooks gentle fingers under Fai’s chin. “Now, let me see what I can do about this gaping hole in your face. Maybe I can fix it before something short-circuits and you die on us. The princess and the white bun would cry even more if you disappear on them, too.”

Fai looks at him, silent, as Kurogane inspects the torn wires and burned nerves. Then, so quiet Kurogane almost doesn’t hear, even from so close, “What about you?” Kurogane shifts his gaze, meets Fai’s, brow furrowing again. 

“Don’t be an idiot.” He hopes his voice is as resolute as he wants it to be. The mage (and how does that work? An android doing magic?) needs to get it through his thick skull. “I’m not letting you die on me. Not anytime soon, not if I can help it. You’re going to live. I’m going to make sure you live, no matter what. Got it?”

Fai lets out a soft, shaky breath. (It feels so real, so warm, against Kurogane’s cheek.) Something sparks lightly deep in his wrecked eye socket. “Alright, Kurogane.” And, when Kurogane grips his chin a little harshly, because he’s said something, and Fai is really being stupid, “Alright… Kuro-sama.”

And there’s something shy about the small smile tugging at his lips, something authentic, that makes Kurogane want to do something he’s never done before. 

He doesn’t, though. 

(“Inconvenient,” echoes through his mind, an ache and an itch and a reminder.)

There’s no time for that right now. Not when something sparks again in Fai’s socket, a little more ominously than the last time.

Kurogane needs to take care of that first, and then they need to find a way to get the kid back. There are many things they need to take care of before he can even think of maybe addressing this thing going on between them. 

(If he ever will at all.)

He takes a deep breath, and gets to work.


	25. Day 25: Non-CLAMP Crossovers

“Oh,” Fai breathes, and there’s a knot in his throat and one in the space between his ribs, one more in his stomach. They all thrum painfully in sync. Well, he certainly hadn’t expected this. “I’m sorry to hear that. I was… looking forward to seeing him again.”

_ Xerxes Break, dead.  _ The man had seemed as frail as he had seemed invincible. It’s what had drawn Fai to him, the couple of times they’ve landed in this world. That and the ticking clocks they both had hanging over their heads.

The young Lady Rainsworth, Miss Sharon nods, something... quietly resigned, but deeply grieving lingering at the corners of her eyes, and in the barely-there uptick of her lips. A golden ring shines on her left ring finger. It looks new. It looks like a shackle. 

“It has been… about five years now,” she says, voice soft with memories, eyes down in her tea cup.

Fai doesn’t know if he has the right to ask. But. He wants to know. “How did he die? If…” He swallows, tries to keep his tone mild. “If it’s alright to ask.”

Sharon hums. Takes a sip of her tea. “His time was up.”  _ Ah. _ “He died in my arms.”

And it’s no consolation, Fai is sure, but he’s certain of one thing. “Then he died happy.”

Sharon’s hand holding the tea cup trembles. “He  _ didn’t _ . He didn't want to die,” she tells him, and there is something sharp like a knife in her voice. A wound still bleeding, even now.

And Fai understands. “He didn’t,” he agrees. “No one does, not when there are still things one wants to do. Things one wants to live for.” It’s been a harsh lesson to learn. But he’s learned it. “Even so, I'm sure he was happy, if only because he got to see his Miss Sharon one last time."

There's a moment of silence. Loss and grief and acceptance blanket them in their familiar embrace. 

Yes, Xerxes Break is dead. 

_ But,  _ Fai thinks,  _ one thing he will never be, is forgotten. _


	26. Day 26: Superheroes

“I still can’t understand how it took you so damn long to figure out she’s Flower Girl,” Kurogane-san tsks, and it makes Syaoran's ears burn again.  _ Honestly _ ... “No matter how you look at it, it’s so painfully obvious to anyone who knows her even a little bit.”

Syaoran shrugs, trying to appear as casual as possible, given how mortified he feels. 

Because in all honesty? Kurogane-san is right. 

How has it taken him so long (months and months) to realize that  _ his girlfriend is a superhero? _ He’s always known Sakura is an amazing woman, yes; has, on occasion, wondered about some of her quirks (like the ability to always have flowers on hand, no matter the occasion, no matter the season).

But to take the leap from  _ that  _ to ‘Sakura has actual superpowers and most days, she’s going out and saving people’... especially since he’s only very rarely had to deal with Flower Girl… He’s had no reason to. (Even those couple of times he’d been saved by her, he’d been more concerned about the situations at hand, than wondering why his rescuer was so invested in making sure he was alright.) 

“How did  _ you  _ know?” He asks Kurogane-san, suddenly struck by the thought. He doesn’t think Sakura might have kept this a secret from him but told his father-figure. She wouldn’t have… right?

Kurogane-san snorts. With a finger, he taps lightly at the police badge clinched to his belt. “It’s my job to know shit happening in this town, for one thing,” he tells Syaoran in a tone that says Syaoran should know this already. “And for another, like I already said. Painfully obvious to anyone who knows the little princess.” As always, his tone softens when he talks about Sakura. Kurogane-san has a soft spot for her a hundred miles wide. Syaoran’s chest warms at the reminder of how much his father-figure cares for this one, most precious person in Syaoran’s life.

He sighs. Runs a hand roughly through his hair. Again, Kurogane-san is right. 

This wouldn’t have come as much of a shock as it has if he’d only paid a little attention.

“Well,” he says, and finds that he means his next words from the bottom of his heart. “It’s not like this is going to make me love Sakura any less. On the contrary, I think. Knowing she’s even more special than I thought, and that she uses that to help people? It makes me love her even more.”

When he looks at Kurogane-san, the man nods at him, with something like fierce, if quiet pride shining in his eyes.


	27. Day 27:  Villain's Day

He travels, world after world after world, in constant, never-ending search for his errant prey.

Tireless, he pursues. 

Tireless, he hunts.

The twins always manage to slip right through his fingers, always a half-step ahead, always making his heart race and his skin crawl with the thrill of the chase. It’s as exhilarating as it is annoying.

He knows, he has absolutely no doubt whatsoever that, had Subaru  _ (his _ Subaru, his one,  _ actual _ prey) been by himself, this cat and mouse game would have long been finished. Subaru can stay away from him just as much as Seishirou himself can stay away from Subaru (for all that the boy would like to believe he can).

But that brat, Kamui, is a thorn in his side. He’s the only reason things have gone on for as long as they have, and Seishirou wants to put his hand through his chest and take out his still beating heart while Subaru watches. 

(Too bad he's promised his baby brother he'd keep his hands off the… spare twin.)

(Accidents can still happen, though.)

Seishirou breathes in the dry, desert night air.

The twins were here, in this ruin of a world.

He's missed them again. 

He won't, next time.


	28. Day 28:  Animal Family

She’s never been afraid of dogs, even those twice, thrice, even ten times her size. She’s always found them nice, sweet even, in some cases, even those who growled at her threateningly when she came too close.

The other cats, the older ones, the ones who’ve always looked at Sakura and shook their heads, swished their tails, they have always been telling her to stay as far away from dogs (“those damn, dirty mutts,” as some of them called them), steer clear no matter what. Well, if she knew what’s good for her.

But Sakura likes to think she knows better.

Especially when her friend Syaoran is the fluffiest, most adorable pup she’s ever met, and the sweetest by far.

Fai-san, her uncle and the only one of all her cat acquaintances who shares her opinion on dogs, agrees with her assessment of Syaoran. (He even teases her about having a crush, but that’s  _ so not true _ , no matter how much he insists.)

(Actually, she thinks he might be projecting a little bit, seeing as he’s in absolute denial about his own gigantic crush of Syaoran’s father, Kurogane-san.) 

“You just have to know how to approach them,” Fai-san told her once, while sharpening his claws on a piece of human furniture in one of their favorite alleyways. “Make yourself as non-threatening, as unassuming as possible.” Which, rich, coming from him, Sakura thought but didn’t say. "And if you can, bring a snack.” 

And the thing is, Sakura thinks as she nuzzles Syaoran in greeting, Fai-san’s advice has worked so far. (For her, at least, because Fai-san himself, rather than approach Kurogane-san carefully -like he taught Sakura-, has absolutely annoyed his way under the older dog’s skin.)

“I’d like to think that we’d have found our way to one other no matter what,” Syaoran tells her with another light nuzzle, and Sakura has to agree. 

She and Syaoran and Fai-san and Kurogane-san would have found their way to each other eventually.


	29. Day 29:  Hitsuzen

"Do you think it was fate? Like Miss Witch was saying... That it was… inevitable?"

He doesn't look at Kurogane, preferring to keep his eyes on the pink, blooming flowers a few feet away. They're adorable, and they make him think of Sakura-chan.

Kurogane heaves out a breath, like he knows Fai is being an unreasonable idiot. It sounds terribly fond. Fai loves and fears it in equal measure. "What was?"

Fai lifts a hand, tugs lightly at a few locks of blond hair.  _ "Everything," _ he says. "Everything that's happened in our lives, every choice we thought we made. Just…" He gesticulates vaguely with his arms. "All of it."

For a few minutes, there's only silence. 

“No,” Kurogane says, eventually. “Not most of it.” And it’s not what Fai has been expecting. 

“Most of it? Kuro-sama?” He asks, heart doing a summersault in his chest.

Kurogane sighs. “The Witch liked to say everything’s…  _ hitsuzen, _ but.” A beat, like Kurogane’s choosing his words. Or at least thinking them over before letting them out. 

“But?” Fai prompts.

“But truth is, none of us would have met, and traveled the way we have, if it hadn’t been for Fei Wang Reed’s machinations to change what was  _ actually inevitable.” _

Fai thinks about that, about all the lives Fei Wang’s choices touched and redirected. How many bright futures were snuffed prematurely. How many paths rerouted. 

Maybe there is some merit to Kuro-sama’s words.

The thought makes something ugly squirm and wriggle its way to the core of him.

“Still,” he says, because he can’t give voice to that ugly thing just yet. “Even that might have been inevitable, beyond even what Miss Witch could tell. We can’t know.” He chances a glance at Kurogane. There’s a frown marring the ninja’s features. “For all we know, Kuro-sama, even this moment right now, right here, between you and me, has been fated, inescapable.”

He doesn’t like to think that maybe everything the man sacrificed for him was anything but his own choice. Somehow, the thought that it would have happened no matter what doesn’t sit well with Fai. 

Kurogane snorts, amused, and it startles Fai. “Well,” the ninja says, turning to flick Fai’s temple lightly. “One thing was inevitable. Two, things, actually.” Fai looks up at him with wide eyes. This easy thing between them now will never not surprise him. “For one thing, you were always going to overthink everything.” 

“Hey!” Indignation flares up, burning up the back of his neck and coloring Fai’s cheeks.

Kurogane flicks his temple again. Fai halfheartedly bats his hand away. “And second,” the ninja continues easily, carding his fingers through Fai’s hair, brushing it away from his face. “This, here, how you feel, how I feel, how the brats feel for each other.”

Fai’s breath gets stuck in his throat. That ugly little thing in his chest rears its head. 

But it seems like Kurogane, as always, knows him, sees through him, more thoroughly than anyone ever has. “The feelings were bound to come,” he says, something unbearably gentle in his voice, in his red eyes. Fai bites the inside of his cheek to keep himself from saying, from doing something stupid. 

Kurogane’s big warm hand cradles his cheek. “After that bastard changed our initial, intended paths, after we gathered at the Witch’s shop… I believe every choice we made was our own. The kid, the second one, deciding to throw wrenches into that guy’s plans, the princess plotting behind our backs to change our outcomes in Infinity. You, choosing to try and reseal the kid’s heart inside himself.” He takes a breath, the pause barely noticeable. “My giving my blood and my arm to keep you alive. Those have been  _ our own choices, _ Mage. The Fates have  _ nothing  _ to do with them.”

And when he says it like that, with such conviction in his voice, with that fire in his eyes… Well, what can Fai do but believe him? The squirmy thing behind his ribs withers and dies, and Fai feels light like air, like the first rays of sunlight after a cold, dark, harsh winter.

He leans his head forward, touching his hand to the back of Kurogane’s still on his cheek. Touches his forehead to Kurogane’s shoulder. 

And he just breathes around the warmth in his heart. 


	30. Day 30: Favorite Worlds (Yama no Kuni)

He looks up at the castle in the sky, the glow of the near-full moon behind it reflecting almost cheerfully off of the still surface of the small lake he’s sitting on the edge of. 

Kurogane takes a drink from his jug of low-grade alcohol. 

There’s a bit of a party going on behind him, something he’s learned always happens on the evening before they’re transported up to the battlefield. It’s the way men bolster themselves for the upcoming battle, and in some cases, it's one last night of foolish, carefree revelry before what might be their certain deaths.

It’s been four months since he and the mage have landed in this new world of monthly combat, without the kids, and without the white bun to act as translator. Kurogane counts himself lucky, because the local language is similar enough to his own and he's managed to figure out the rest without too much trouble.

With another gulp of alcohol, he turns to look at his companion, sitting on a boulder a few feet into the lake, his bare feet moving languidly in the water. The moonlight makes his yellow hair glow almost silver, and turns that small, quiet smile (a rare, real one, Kurogane thinks) into something melancholy.

It's been weird, going for so long without the mage's chatter, without his idiotic nicknames. Kurogane supposes he should be grateful for the reprieve, but there's something that grates, if he's honest. 

He's tried to teach the man some of the language, his and the little he has learned of the local one, but Fai has taken his mute role to heart, and never really uses any of it. He's only heard the mage say a handful of words at most, garbled and stilted as they were, these past month, and only when it had been absolutely necessary.

And  _ even then _ , only if they were alone.

Now, with the bulk of Yasha-ou's army well into their drinks and merry-making, and well out of earshot, Kurogane can hear the mage humming to himself. 

It's quiet, and there's something about it that feels almost dream-like, and Kurogane thinks Fai might not even be fully aware he's doing it.

(The song feels familiar, but he can't yet put his finger on where he's heard it before. )

As though he can feel Kurogane's gaze on him, Fai looks up, black eyes meeting black in the moon's light. (And damn, but Kurogane misses their normal blue, as bright as a summer day's sky and just as full of mysteries.)

Kurogane lifts his jug of wine, takes a drink, and then tilts it towards the mage, a silent offering. A silent invitation.

But Fai just smiles, and shakes his head lightly.

_ He's being maudlin again, _ Kurogane thinks,  _ too damn caught up in his head, if he's refusing alcohol _ .

He sighs, and finishes the wine in a few gulps.

Then, he stands up and takes his boots off. Places them next to Fai's own.

When Kurogane reaches the rock the mage is sitting on, he doesn't let himself think too much about it before he pulls the man up, wrapping his arms around that skinny (yet strong) frame, and crashing beneath the surface of the water.

The startled look on Fai's face is worth the silliness.

When they come back up for air, Kurogane wiping his face while Fai sputters in indignation, the mage's puffed up cheeks, pink and wet and shining in the low light kind of remind him of the white bun just before she starts on one of her tirades.

Kurogane snorts at the mental image. Snorts again when Fai bristles as his amusement. 

"Kuro-sama," Fai whispers, and it's the first time in months Kurogane has heard that name. 

Gently, he raises a hand to brush wet strands away from Fai's eyes  _ (wrong color, wrong, why aren't they blue?) _ , before cupping the mage's jaw. 

For a moment, they're at a standstill, both just looking at each other, wide, anxious eyes that should be blue but aren't gazing into calm ones that should be red but aren't. Kurogane wonders, for a brief second, if maybe he's gone too far.

But then, a slightly trembling hand comes up, settles on the back of his neck, and with an exhale, Kurogane leans down, pressing lips to shivering lips.

He doesn't know how this will affect things,  _ if _ they will, if anything at all will even change, going forward, not with the mage's wily personality.

But for now, Kurogane would rather forget, if only for a short while, all about their journey, about tomorrow's battle, about whether they'll ever see the kids again. If he'll ever get back home again.

For now, there's just this, just him and the mage and the warmth between them in the pale moonlight.


	31. Day 31:  Goodbyes

“Are you really leaving without saying goodbye?”

Kurogane closes his eyes, exhales sharply through his nose.  _ Damn Bun, couldn’t keep her mouth shut, could she? _ He doesn’t turn around to face the kid. Instead, he finishes packing the few things he’s gathered in their long travels that he wants to take with him back to Nihon.

“Kurogane-san,” Syaoran says, voice quiet and almost pleading. “I know you don’t like being sentimental, but… did you  _ really  _ think this would be easier like this?”

He hadn't. If he's being honest, he's tried not to think too much about it at all in the past few days, other than in a general  _ "yep, I'm going"  _ way.

He ties off the last knot on his satchel. "Do the others know?" It's a silly question, really, because if they knew, they'd all be here, all confusion and disappointment and silent rage neatly packaged in wide eyes gleaming with hurt.

It's  _ exactly  _ why he hasn't said anything.

"I asked Mokona not to tell them yet," the kid answers, and he can hear the disappointment. "I thought…" he hesitates, and Kurogane has a feeling he knows what he's about to say. "I thought you at least tell Fai-san." And yep, there it is.  _ Dammit _ . But the kid continues, "But you wouldn't, would you? When he's said he wanted to stay here in Clow." 

Kurogane snorts. "The mage can do whatever he wants with his life, kid," he says, and if he sounds bitter, he knows Syaoran respects him too much to mention it. "His life is his own now, he can go wherever he wants, stay wherever he wants." It's what he's told Fai himself, the night the mage told him he wanted to stay. 

"...you were  _ planning a wedding _ , Kurogane-san," Syaoran says, and it feels like being stabbed. 

"Tell him that," he throws back, harsher than the kid deserves. 

"Have I ever told you," comes a different voice, and it freezes every drop of blood in Kurogane's veins. It's the last voice he wants to hear right now. He still doesn't turn towards the doorway, though. "That there are times when you're an unbelievable idiot?"

"Fai-san…" The princess' voice comes next, softly chastising. "But he's right, Kurogane-san, you  _ are _ . Especially if you think Fai-san wants to stay here without you."

Kurogane grits his teeth.  _ Great, _ he thinks,  _ now we're having a family meeting _ . He sighs, suddenly tired like he hasn't felt in a long time, bone-deep and aching. 

He startles when arms, thin, delicate,  _ strong _ , wrap around his middle. "Kurogane-san," the princess says, muffled in his shirt at his back. "You once asked Syaoran and I, and the other two as well, to not disappear on you. Please don't disappear on us."

And that's… he wants to say it's not fair, but it is, isn't it? 

Besides, he's never been able to say no to this tiny little slip of a princess, to  _ either version _ of her. 

"Alright," he sighs. "Alright. I get it." 

He turns around in time to dodge a light-hearted punch headed for the side of his head. 

"You really are an idiot," Fai tells him, and there's relief in his eyes, even with hurt still evident in every line of his body. "You made Sakura-chan cry." Kurogane lowers his gaze at that, catches sight of tear tracks and shiny eyes. He gently pats her hair in apology. "And you thought…" There's a hitch in Fai's voice. 

"Yeah," Kurogane says, before Fai can finish that sentence. He raises the hand not on Sakura's head to caress a few stray locks of soft, spun gold out of Fai's (yellow and blue) eyes. (It’s a rare thing, seeing those eyes like that these days.) "Yeah, I've been an idiot." Hopefully it’s enough for the time being. 

Before any of them can say anything else, a white blur jumps up and attaches itself to Kurogane's neck. "We're not leaving anymore, right? 'Cause everybody would be _so, so sad,_ Kurogane!" Mokona cries.

And well, with all these pairs of eyes looking at him like he might break their hearts with one word, what else can Kurogane say but, “I guess goodbyes can be saved for another time.”


End file.
